A systematist includes a lizard in a phylogenetic analysis of relationships among bird families. In this analysis, the lizard would be treated as
A) the ingroup.
B) the outgroup.
C) a monophyletic group.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The lizard is not closely related to birds and is thus phylogenetically distant from them. Therefore, it would be the most appropriate to use as the outgroup to root the tree and determine the evolutionary relationships among the bird families.

A Systematist Includes a Lizard in a Phylogenetic Analysis of Relationships